Lou-ann Neel

The finalists have been announced for this year’s Indigenous Voices Awards. The annual awards, now in their sixth year, honour the sovereignty of Indigenous creative voices and support the work of Indigenous writers.

Recipients of this year’s awards will be announced on June 21, National Indigenous People’s Day. A total of $34,000 in prize money will be distributed to the award recipients.

The finalists are:

Published prose in English

• Cody Caetano (Anishinaabe), Half-Bads in White Regalia (Hamish Hamilton/Penguin Random House Canada)
• Francine Cunningham (Cree and Métis), God Isn’t Here Today (Invisible Publishing)
• Frances Koncan (Anishinaabe), Women of the Fur Trade (Playwrights Canada Press)
• Kim Spencer (Ts’msyen Nation), Weird Rules to Follow (Orca Book Publishers)
• Chelsea Vowel (Métis), Buffalo is the New Buffalo (Arsenal Pulp Press)
• Joshua Whitehead (Oji-Cree/nêhiyaw), Making Love with the Land (Knopf Canada/Penguin Random House Canada)

Published prose in French

• J.D. Kurtness (Ilnu), Bienvenue, Alyson (Éditions Hannenorak)
• Carole Labarre (Innu), L’or des mélèzes (Mémoire d’encrier)
• Jocelyn Sioui (Wendat), Frétillant et agile (Éditions Hannenorak)

Published poetry in English

• Justene Dion-Glowa (Métis), Trailer Park Shakes (Brick Books)
• ​​Ashley Qilavaq-Savard (Inuit), Where the Sea Kuniks the Land (Inhabit Media)
• Emily Riddle (nêhiyaw), The Big Melt (Nightwood Editions)
• Matthew James Weigel (Dene and Métis), Whitemud Walking (Coach House Books)
• Délani Valin (Métis), Shapeshifters (Harbour Publishing)

Published poetry in French

• Maya Cousineau Mollen (Innu), Enfants du lichen (Éditions Hannenorak)
• Rita Mestokosho (Innu), Atik u utei. Le cœur du caribou (Mémoire d’encrier)

Published work in an Indigenous language

• Solomon Awa (Inuit), Animals Illustrated: Narwhal (Inuktitut version–Inhabit Media)
• George Paul (Mi’kmaw); illustrator Loretta Gould (Mi’kmaq); translated by Barbara Sylliboy (Mi’kmaw), The Honour Song (Bouton d’or Acadie)

Unpublished prose in English

• “Frank” by David Agecoutay (Saulteaux)
• “Home” by Brandi Bird (Peguis First Nation)
• “Seh Woo – My Teeth” by Kerissa Dickie (Dene)
• “Settler Birds and Social NDNs in the City” by Henry Heavyshield (Kainai)
• “In the Morning” by Scarlet Scott (Ojibwe)

Unpublished poetry in English

• “Rez Girls Are Forever” by Leah Baptiste (Sahtú Got’ine)
• “Once the Smudge is Lit” by Kelsey Borgford (Nbisiing Nishnaabe)
• “A Child Called Dream” by Kaitlyn Purcell (Denesųłįné)
• “Scattered Oblations” by Cooper Skjeie (settler/Métis)

Published graphic novels, comics, and illustrated books

• Samantha Beynon (Nisga’a) with illustrator Lucy Trimble (Nisga’a), Oolichan Moon (Harbour Publishing)
• Raeann Brown (Nunatsiavut Inuk), Bedtime in Nunatsiavut (Arsenal Pulp Press)
• Babah Kalluk (Inuit) Niitu and Chips (Inhabit Media)
• Cole Pauls (Tahltan), Kwändǖr (Conundrum Press)
• Willie Poll (Métis); illustrator Chief Lady Bird (Anishinaabe), Together We Drum, Our Hearts Beat as One (Arsenal Pulp Press)

The jurors for the 2023 awards are Billy-Ray Belcourt, Lisa Bird-Wilson, Warren Cariou, David Chariandy, Margery Fee, Otoniya Juliane Okot Bitek, Madeleine Reddon, June Scudeler, Niigaanwewidam Sinclair, Matthew Tétreault, Richard Van Camp, katherena vermette, and Eldon Yellowhorn.

The awards are administered by co-chairs Dr. Deanna Reder (Cree-Métis) and settler scholars Dr. Sophie McCall of Simon Fraser University and Dr. Marie-Eve Bradette.